OUR VALUES
Vision
By 2017, ten years from now, Envest will have at least $100 million invested with microfinance organizations in developing countries, and will have made it possible for between one and two million people to have access to enough capital to make a demonstrable difference in their ability to have a better quality of life with a reduced negative impact on the environment. The Envest approach will be replicated by other organizations in the microfinance field as an accepted model for promoting sustainability, generating reasonable returns for investors, and supporting enterprise in developing countries.
Mission
To make financial services universally available; to promote poverty alleviation through the development of a strong, sustainable economic infrastructure using financially sound market mechanisms.
The Natural Step
Lending Activities of Envest will strive to operate within the framework of the guiding objectives of the Natural Step. These objectives must be met for a society to be sustainable.
The following principles and operating values were developing with the goal of incorporating the system conditions and guiding objectives of the Natural Step into the poverty alleviation and microfinance sector.
- Environmental protection and restoration is crucial to achieving a sustainable economy.
- Poverty is a major threat to the environment.
- Human population growth is not environmentally sustainable.
- The shift toward energy independence using clean and renewable sources is a necessary step in the movement toward a sustainable economy.
- Urban migration to humane conditions is positive.
- Activities that reduce infant mortality decrease birth rates and improve families.
- Activities/enterprises that result in children going to school are financially and socially desirable.
- The shift from commodity-based to capacity-based enterprises facilitates the movement to a sustainable economy.
- Commercial viability of microfinance is essential to providing universal access to financial services.
Natural Step Guiding Objectives
Eliminate our community’s contribution to:
1. Fossil fuel dependence and to wasteful use of scarce metals and minerals.
2. Dependence upon persistent chemicals and wasteful use of synthetic substances.
3. Encroachment upon nature (e.g., land, water, wildlife, forests, soil, ecosystems).
4. Meet human needs fairly and efficiently.
The authors explicitly state that if guiding objective #4 is not met, meeting the other three objectives is impossible. The primary emphasis of Envest will be on meeting objective #4 while integrating the other three objectives where possible.
Envest proposes to use social investing and microfinance as tools to address the lack of access of the poor to financial services. Microfinance is a proven method of providing access to financial services and lifting people out of poverty. What is lacking is elevating microfinance to a global scale. Adoption of existing financial instruments will be necessary, and subtle nuances will be in order for new arenas of lending such as for renewable energy. Envest proposes to be a leader in the effort to scale up microfinance to a global scope and incorporate sustainability into that effort.